Man arrested in string of West Palm Beach home burglaries

November 29, 2010|By Eliot Kleinberg, The Palm Beach Post

WEST PALM BEACH — Police have made at least one arrest, and expect more, in the burglaries of as many as 20 homes, most of them along the Flagler Drive/Dixie Highway corridor in the city's south end, reports show.

Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office deputies detained Aaron Donald Clark, 19, a student at Palm Beach State College, during a traffic stop Nov. 22 and held him for West Palm Beach police, reports said.

Police have charged him with three break-ins so far. Sheriff's Office detectives also charged him over the weekend in an October robbery at a Lake Worth recording studio.

"We do believe more people will be arrested and Mr. Clark will be charged with other burglaries," West Palm Beach Police Sgt. Pete Flannery said on Monday.

Aaron told police he "probably broke into a lot of houses, but could not recall exact locations because prior to going out he would consume a quantity of Xanax pills and alcohol."

Aaron said he'd steal mostly jewelry and small electronics, which he then sold to friends or their relatives or at a nearby flea market.

He insisted he acted alone, but at one home, the haul included two televisions, 42-inch and a 52-inch; "it is safe to say that Aaron did not carry all of this property on foot back to his residence by himself," detective Adam Konesy wrote.

Clark is charged with larceny of $300 to $5,000, armed burglary, grand theft of $5,000 to $10,000, and two counts each of unarmed burglary, robbery with a firearm, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon.